WILLEMSTAD – The United States has announced a new round of sanctions aimed at cutting off revenue streams used by Iran to finance terrorism and other illicit activities, targeting what Washington describes as Iran’s “ghost fleet” of oil tankers.
According to U.S. authorities, the Department of the Treasury has sanctioned 29 vessels involved in the covert transport of Iranian crude oil and petroleum products worth hundreds of millions of dollars. The vessels are part of a complex network designed to conceal the origin and destination of Iranian oil exports.
Among those targeted is a network of companies and ships operated by Hatem Elsaid Farid Ibrahim Sakr, an Egyptian businessman, as well as several companies operating across multiple jurisdictions, including the United Arab Emirates, India, the Marshall Islands, and Panama. U.S. officials say these entities played a key role in enabling Iran to export oil through opaque and fraudulent mechanisms.
The sanctions significantly restrict Iran’s ability to move oil and petroleum products onto the global market and are intended to disrupt the financial flows that support Tehran’s destabilizing activities.
Maximum Pressure Policy Reaffirmed
The latest measures form part of the U.S. government’s broader effort to implement National Security Presidential Memorandum 2, which directs U.S. agencies to apply maximum pressure on Iran by depriving the regime of revenue used to fund terrorism and regional destabilization.
U.S. officials emphasized that enforcement actions will continue and that all available tools will be used against individuals, companies, and vessels that facilitate Iran’s illicit oil trade.
Legal Basis for Sanctions
The sanctions were imposed under Executive Order 13902, which targets Iran’s oil and petrochemical sectors. The action follows a sustained sanctions campaign aimed at restricting Iranian crude sales in line with the national security directive issued earlier this year.
The announcement comes amid heightened global scrutiny of shadow shipping networks and increased enforcement against sanctioned oil trades, developments that are closely monitored in the Caribbean due to their potential impact on international shipping routes, insurance markets, and regional maritime security.